Monday, April 24, 2017

My colleagues Karen Doran and Karen Keil, have drafted a short piece on 'Getting Around Our City',which is for the Edinburgh Labour website --- I'll reproduce the text below, for those interested:

Edinburgh
is a magnificent city, the fastest growing city in Scotland, with population
growth of some 1% per annum. People from all over the UK, and beyond, make a
positive choice to come here to live and to work.

It
is vital that those residents can walk, cycle and travel by public transport.
So, over the last five years, Labour has worked hard to ensure that we are
forward thinking in how people get around. We have significantly
increased investment in public transport.

Edinburgh
is thus the only city in the UK which has seen a decrease in car ownership
along with increased use of buses, cycling and walking. This has happened because Labour has invested
in Active Travel.

Labour
has further pledged to continue with pavement resurfacing and will create a
dedicated BUDGET FOR WALKING to be used to install more pedestrian
crossings, drop kerbs, pedestrian zones and increase pathways.

Labour
also pledged, back in 2012, to increase spending on cycling and it has followed
through with that promise. Spending on cycling is now 10% of the
transport budget, using the money to make routes safer. We renew that
pledge to MAINTAIN SPENDING ON CYCLING AT 10%; to complete the west to
east link across the city centre, and to build segregated cycle lanes.
Not only do we pledge to continue our work but we will introduce a cycle hire
scheme that is fit for purpose and will enhance visitors and residents
experience of Edinburgh.

And
award-winning Lothian Buses has upgraded its fleet with more accessible and
less polluting vehicles. Passenger numbers are rising every year.

As
Labour has always promised, and
will always PROMISE, we will fight to KEEP LOTHIAN BUSES AND EDINBURGH TRAMS IN PUBLIC OWNERSHIP. Edinburgh Trams currently has one of the
highest service satisfactions in the latest passenger survey.

Labour
will continue to fight for a cleaner, safer Edinburgh to travel around in; with
20MPH zones in the City Centre, residential and shopping areas, while 30MPH
& 40MPH will be maintained on arterial routes.

We
will also look to introduce a LOW EMISSION ZONE in the city and monitor
it to ensure there is no shift of pollution to other areas.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

April 2017

Ongoing satisfaction with life in the Capital

The latest Edinburgh People Survey
results made positive reading when they were published last month,
showing that the vast majority of respondents (94%) are satisfied with
life here in the Capital.

Services like public
transport, parks and our calendar of cultural events continue to see a
high level of satisfaction too, while results showed residents across
the city feel secure in their communities.

I was a
particularly heartened by the sense of inclusion demonstrated by the
results, with more people than ever agreeing their neighbourhood is a
place where people of different backgrounds get along (84%), and 94%
saying Edinburgh is welcoming and accessible to people of all ages.

As
ever, the survey also gives us the opportunity to reflect on the areas
where public perception is poorer. Responses allow us to pinpoint
services, such as street cleaning and road maintenance, where people
feel we could be doing better, and help us to make plans for
improvement, to the benefit of everyone who lives in and visits the
city.

Councillor Andrew Burns Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council

Very much open for business

Edinburgh has been featuring in the news again for all the right reasons this month after being named the best city in the UK
to start a new business. Our speedy internet connections, reasonable
office rent and a substantial pool of 'tech savvy' students all played
their part.

This came hot on the heels of another, and even more impressive, result courtesy of JLL Investment's Intensity Index,
which ranked Edinburgh fourth in the world for property investment.
This is remarkable when you consider that only Oslo, London and Munich
scored more highly, with the likes of New York and Sydney further down
the Top 10.

Of course, the evidence of this is right
on our doorstop as the New Waverley and Haymarket developments continue
to progress well and work getting underway on the £1 billion Edinburgh
St James project.

Keeping Edinburgh Beautiful

Congratulations to the team working on the Our Edinburgh
campaign, which was awarded 'Programme of the Year' at this year's Keep
Scotland Beautiful Local Environment Quality Awards. The award
recognises the great job they've done to encourage pride in the city.

We're
always looking at ways of improving our waste and cleansing services,
but by raising awareness of anti-social behaviour like fly-tipping,
litter-dropping and dog fouling, Our Edinburgh is encouraging the public to do their bit too - and it's already having an impact.

In
its latest phase in Gorgie and Dalry, the campaign saw litter
complaints drop by 18% and 13 fixed penalty notices issued, while
citywide there has been a 44% increase in special uplift requests.

Grand designs on Ross Theatre

It
boasts one of the finest backdrops in the country and it seems the rest
of the world agrees. The competition to replace the Ross Bandstand in
West Princes Street Gardens is gathering pace after 125 groups of
architects and designers spanning 22 countries were swiftly narrowed
down last month.

The worldwide interest should come as
no surprise. Images of the venue are beamed to TV screens across the
world every Hogmanay and during the Festival Fireworks Concert each
August. After flying in from Japan, the USA and across Europe to visit
the site earlier this month, the seven shortlisted architect teams will have until June to submit their designs for a new pavilion.

An
exhibition will be held by the Ross Development Trust, led by
benefactor Norman Springford, this summer to showcase their concept
designs and to receive local feedback, with a winner expected to be
confirmed in August 2017.

Fighting inequality with the OneCity Trust

The
OneCity Trust was established in 2003 (with the Lord Provost's 'Rapid
Action Fund' added in 2013) to support the most vulnerable in our
society and, over the last 12 months alone, has channelled over £125,000
into projects which help close the wealth gap here in the Capital.

Every
community has a responsibility to care for its citizens and the OneCity
Trust relies on generous donations from Edinburgh people and
businesses. In the last year, it has received more than £36,300 support
from Travis Perkins, £3,000 from CGI Ltd and over £6,000 from Harvey
Nichols' carrier bag levy.

Countless individuals
continue to pledge their support too. The Trust's President, the Lord
Provost, will 'brave' the Virgin Money London Marathon this weekend.
With Sunday's starting gun looming, you can show the Lord Provost and
the OneCity Trust your support through Donald Wilson's marathon donation page.

If
you know an organisation or scheme which fights inequality and promotes
inclusion, applications will be open until the end of May for 2017
grant funding. Find out more about applying for a OneCity Trust grant.

Have your say on 4 May

The
local elections are almost upon us (as, of course, is another General
Election!) and voters across the country will be heading to the polls to
elect our new councillors on Thursday 4 May.

A few reminders about this year's vote:

Some polling places have changed, so check your poll card or our online guide to find out where yours is before you head out

If
filling in a postal ballot, be careful to put your date of birth in the
relevant bit, rather than that day's date (it often happens!), then
make sure to sign it

The last word

As
you may be aware, many councillors, including myself, have chosen not
to stand on 4 May. I haven't done the maths, but the cumulative
experience leaving the Council must add up to many hundreds of years.

As
current Council Leader, and on behalf of all the Group Leaders, I'd
like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all the retiring
councillors who have given dedicated public service to their local
communities over so many years.

I'd also like to wish
all remaining councillors, and new candidates, all the very best of
luck. It really is a privilege to serve your local community - and you
never know how long that privilege will last - so please do enjoy it
while you can.

Huge thanks also to our dedicated
workforce, who have shown nothing but enormous understanding,
adaptability, and sheer dedication to public service, over recent years.
It's been my pleasure to work with you all.

And
finally, many thanks to the people that matter most: the residents of
Edinburgh. You have given us the chance to make a contribution to the
ongoing evolution of this most beautiful city; one which I've had the
good fortune to call my family home for the last 24 years.

Stay in the picture

Keep yourself in the picture with our news section online. Watch live full Council and some committee meetings on our webcast. Join the debate on Twitter #edinwebcast

Friday, April 21, 2017

It may only be a matter of days until the Local Authority Elections - but Council business continues apace ...

... April's Full Council Meeting is now just a week away - it takes place at 10am next Thursday 27th April.And all the reports are now up on Committee Papers On-Line (CPOL), and you can access the main agenda directly here; and each of the individual reports separately via this link.Of course, as every month, if you're so minded - you can watch all the proceedings live here ...... or the meeting will be archived a few hours after it finishes for viewing at your leisure!

This will be my last 'Full Council Meeting' (as an Elected Member) after 18-years of public service --- in all that time, I don't think I've missed a single one, so reckon I've attended some 200 Full Council Meetings since May 1999 :-))

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

My colleague Gordon Munro, has drafted a short piece on 'Our Economy and Jobs', which is over on the Edinburgh Labour website --- I'll reproduce the text below, for those interested:

Edinburgh’s economy is the engine of the Scottish economy. Edinburgh
has the highest output per resident and is significantly higher than the
Scottish and UK average. Yet the SNP Government has cut our city's
budget by more than any other Local Authority in the country.

A
key contributor to our city is the visitor economy. Revenue per
available hotel room peaked at a high of £167 in August and the lowest
point being January at £38 per room. This is why significant investment
is being made in Edinburgh in building hotels. This city has built
year-round tourism across the country, with Edinburgh the launch pad for
the rest of Scotland.

This tourism is attracted by our festivals which have been created
and funded by Edinburgh Council. Edinburgh’s festivals generate £313m
for Scotland with £280m in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government's cuts of £150m to Edinburgh's budget since
2012 has, inevitably, had an impact on the Council's ability to provide
funding for our festivals - and other cities have been quick to set up
their own, rival, events. To stay ahead Edinburgh needs more funding. A
modest tax on beds of, say £1 per room, would help fund festival
programming and infrastructure, and keep Edinburgh in front.

There is another side to Edinburgh’s economy. Edinburgh has an
unemployment rate of 4.4% - lower than Morningside under Thatcher, yet
there are more people in in-work poverty than unemployed in Edinburgh.
This is why when Labour returned to power in Edinburgh in 2012 it
introduced the Living Wage for all Council employees. This directly
benefited over 2,500 workers and other employers across the city have
followed our lead.

Of course there is more to be done. That's why Edinburgh Labour will
make investing in our city's economy, to provide jobs and opportunities
for the future, a priority of a Labour Council. We will create good
quality jobs by investing in housing and public infrastructure, and we
will make sure that these jobs are well paid by ensuring that any
employer contracted by the Council pays their employees the living wage.

We will increase practical support for new businesses and start-ups,
especially in the tech sector, to help our city grow with a balanced
economy.

We will expand training opportunities for adults and young people to
help people back into work, and we will ensure every young person leaves
school with the choice of a job, training or further education so that
no one falls behind in our economy.

Edinburgh’s economy has to be fair for all. Only Edinburgh Labour will put Edinburgh first.

Monday, April 10, 2017

For
the last five years, Labour have taken the lead in housing for the City at a
time when demand for housing that people can afford is at an all-time high.
Nearly one third of Edinburgh households now live in expensive and insecure
tenancies in the private rented sector.

Labours
record of housing delivery has been good with more than 5000 households helped
into new homes that they can afford, all built on brownfield sites across every
neighbourhood.

We will deliver a minimum of 16,000 affordable and low cost
homes for rent and sale over the next 10 years, working with our partner
housing associations and co-operatives. To meet needs, we require at least two
thirds to be let at 'social rent' levels. Labour will campaign vigorously for
an increased grant from the Scottish Government to speed up this process.

However, building new homes is not enough
on its own – Labour is committed to creating great places for people to live
and prosper.

Labour
pledges to strengthen the Registration System for private landlords by setting
up an inspection team to ensure they
maintain their own properties and participate fully in common repairs, and
treat tenants fairly.

Labour
recognises that there are still individuals and families who do not have a
permanent place to call home. In this
difficult time of Welfare Reform, we have protected homelessness funding and
will continue to help the most vulnerable in our communities.

Labour is working
with our partners in Homeless Support Services through the Edinburgh
Homelessness Forum to look at creative
and innovative ways forward. To ensure
that we develop services that meet the needs of individuals who have been
effected by homelessness we have actively involved them in sharing their
stories with the forum.

We
are committed to helping more disabled and elderly tenants and owners to adapt
their existing homes, and assist older and disabled home owners to move to more
suitable housing should they wish to do so.

We will purchase
existing homes to help us meet the need for affordable housing, where this
would not be more expensive than a new build home of the same size.

We
will work with other public sector and private land owners to develop land for
affordable housing, prioritising brownfield sites, and we will always consider
possible use for affordable housing when selling council owned land.

Edinburgh
is continuing to increase in size, with housing need far outstripping supply, in our
fast-growing city. Yet we have made a great deal of progress in the last five
years and I am confident that, if the voters of Edinburgh put their trust in us
in May 2017, we can build on our achievements for the next five years.

Wednesday, April 05, 2017

My colleague Ricky Henderson, has drafted a short piece on 'Our Children: Education and Families', which is over on the Edinburgh Labour website --- I'll reproduce the text below, for those interested:

For the last five years, as part of the Capital Coalition, Labour has taken the lead in health and social care services for the city - our current Convener of Health and Social Care, Councillor Ricky Henderson, outlines our priorities for health and social care services:

More and more people are now living into their 80s and 90s which is a fact to be celebrated. Older people now make more of a contribution to communities and families than ever before.

However, many people are also living longer with multiple health conditions sometimes requiring more support to continue living as independently as possible.

More young people with long term disabilities are now able to live much longer too but also needing extra support as they grow older.

With the need for care services increasing and budgets reducing the challenges are fairly obvious.

Edinburgh Labour will highlight the shortfall in resources and demand that the SNP Government uses the powers it has to fully meet its responsibilities and provide the increased resources people need.

In the next Council, we will -

Take steps to increase the length and flexibility of care visits and increase the availability of care, to help people live in their own homes for as long as possible.

Increase budgets for adaptations in homes, such as showers and ramps, to aid independent living.

Expand respite time and facilities for family and friend carers to safeguard their own health and wellbeing.

Insist that voluntary and private organisations which work with us pay the living wage and provide staff with proper training and conditions to ensure good quality care.

Work towards making our city ‘barrier free’ by improving accessibility to buildings, and making streets and pavements suitable for people with disabilities.

Improve access to health and care services by creating eight local health and community hubs where people can work on solutions to their needs with health and care professionals and voluntary groups.

Tuesday, April 04, 2017

My colleague Cammy Day, has drafted a short piece on 'Our Children: Education and Families', which is over on the Edinburgh Labour website --- I'll reproduce the text below, for those interested:

For the last five years, as part of the Capital Coalition, Labour has taken the lead in Education for the city - our current Convener of Education, Councillor Cammy Day, outlines our achievements:

Community Access & young people

Edinburgh Labour have continued to deliver more Community
Access to our school estate. In partnership with community organisations and
Edinburgh Leisure we want to ensure our schools are used to their best
potential and that local communities are a key part of the school
community. Already Edinburgh Labour have delivered partnerships with
James Gillespie’s and Portobello High School – and will do much more.

Recently we launched our Youth Work Strategy with the
Edinburgh Youth Work Consortium, confirming our commitment to youth work
services in the future. We have expanded participatory budgeting into Youth
Work – to give young people their say in not only setting the agenda for youth
work but deciding on what should be funded in the future. Over the next three
years we want to see youth work funding set and agreed by the young people who
use the services. Next year, 2018, sees the International Year of the
Young Person – and Edinburgh Labour will ensure our young people are leading
the charge to ensure a capital city that young people are proud of.

Early Years & Childcare

Edinburgh Labour wants to give every child the best start in
life. We have invested in more early years and childcare provision across
the city. In December this year, the Labour led administration committed to
delivering a universal Breakfast Club for every child in our schools. We will
continue to support extra resources for children requiring additional support

We want to make early years’ provision more flexible to fit
in with family needs and provide extra resources to ensure that no children
fall behind classmates when they start school. We will expand early years
and childcare to deliver the increased hours required.

Working with the Voluntary Sector and wider childcare sector
we will deliver a new partnership to deliver the best start for our children
and young people.

Investing in our Schools – fit for the future

Our capital city continues to expand, with 300-400 new
families coming to the city every month, adding additional pressure to our
school estate. In the last five years the Labour led administration in
Edinburgh have delivered a new award winning secondary school at James
Gillespie’s, a state of the art new build at Portobello and a new young
people’s service at Heathervale.

In addition more classroom space has
been delivered at Victoria Primary, Wardie Primary and Granton Primary and new
gym halls and dining facilities in the primary schools detailed below.

We will continue to invest in more schools in our city to provide the best education we can to the next generation of young people.

We will build new schools at St John’s Portobello, St Crispin’s, Broomhills, Gilmerton Station Road, Leith Waterfront, Granton Waterfront, Maybury, Brunstane and Queensferry – and deliver new Secondary Schools for Castlebrae and West Edinburgh.

We want to provide the best learning environment for our young people and The Scottish Government need to provide support and resources to help deliver these schools and continue the upward travel of attainment that we have delivered year on year.

Councillor Andrew Burns

Further Information

e-mail Andrew at ...

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"I am in love with this world" - John Burroughs

"I am in love with this world ... it has been my home. It has been my point of outlook into the universe. I have not bruised myself against it, nor tried to use it ignobly.

I have tilled its soil, I have gathered its harvests, I have waited upon its seasons, and always have I reaped what I have sown. While I delved, I did not lose sight of the sky overhead.

I have climbed its mountains, roamed its forests, sailed its waters, crossed its deserts, felt the sting of its frosts, the oppression of its heats, the drench of its rains, the fury of its winds, and always have beauty and joy waited upon my goings and comings."

Loch Hourn, North-West Scotland

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"Of the sweets of adversity, and let me say that these are not numerous, I have found the sweetest, the most precious of all, is the lesson I learnt on the value of kindness. Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world. To be kind is to respond with sensitivity and human warmth to the hopes and needs of others. Even the briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people."

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